Marvel’s shared movie universe gamble has worked out well, thanks to The Avengers raking in well over $1 billion at the global box office. Over the past week, stories have been flying fast and furious, revealing that Warner Bros./DC are now pressing ahead full-steam with plans to usher in a new era of film featuring their own stable of superheroes. Although Dark Knight Rises will undoubtedly make a bundle for the studio(s) this summer, it’s next year’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel, which is expected to truly launch the new wave of DC movies.

Earlier this week we learned that slate of DC films will definitely include both a Wonder Woman movie and the long-gestating Justice League film. Today, we have news that both a Green Lantern reboot and Suicide Squad movie could also be on the menu (in the foreseeable future).

The Green Lantern news comes as little surprise, given the film’s financial (under-)performance (longtime readers know all too well how we felt about that movie). However, Variety says that Warner Bros. and DC are currently trying to decide whether it would be better to bring back Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, and make a sequel/partial reboot (a la The Incredible Hulk) – or just start from scratch with a new actor, so as to “relaunch the character in a completely new way.”

Will Ryan Reynolds return for 'Green Lantern 2'?

Part of the reason there are so many questions right now about what, exactly, Warner Bros./DC’s future plans are with respect to live-action superhero movies has to do with TDKR director Christopher Nolan. As Variety points out in its report: the filmmaker not only rejuvenated the flailing Batman franchise into both a critical darling and a box office behemoth, he also oversaw Man of Steel during its early stages of development (“godfathered,” if you will). Indeed, it’s been speculated that Nolan’s tendency to play things close to the vest is part of the reason why only one official image of Henry Cavill as the new Superman in Man of Steel has been released to date.

Whether or not Nolan agrees to serve as a “guide” and to determine which direction the DC movie universe takes, is the question right now. The filmmaker’s decision could impact such issues as the decision to reboot/relaunch the Batman and/or Green Lantern series; whether or not there will be a shared continuity between movies like the impending Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Aquaman solo ventures (or if each film will be primarily stand-alone) – and whether the Justice League movie will emulate the grounded and mature tone struck by Nolan’s Batman trilogy, as Will Beall’s JL script is already rumored to do.

Henry Cavill as the 'Man of Steel'

That Warner Bros./DC would take so great a risk as to rely heavily on Nolan to supervise the creative territory for their coveted comic book properties is a direct response to how Marvel pulled off The Avengers so well – by hiring on a filmmaker (Joss Whedon) who’d already demonstrated a real passion and understanding of what makes good superhero stories tick. Hence, you shouldn’t put too much weight into last year’s reports that Henry Cavill’s Superman will absolutely not be incorporated into the Justice League movie, or how the Batman series will without a doubt break narrative continuity with Nolan’s films, after TDKR (among other outdated reports).

Furthermore, the news that an adaptation of the Suicide Squad comic book is in the works likewise points to Warner Bros./DC taking a decidedly different approach to their superhero movie universe than the one taken by Marvel. Suicide Squad (in its more recent comic incarnation) revolves around a team of incarcerated supervillains who take on dangerous black ops missions for the U.S. government in exchange for reduced prison terms. The players in that series contrast vividly with both the current and upcoming roster of Marvel characters (Ant-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange) – who are (by comparison) more straight-forward good guys armed with awesome powers and abilities.

The 'Suicide Squad'

In summary: Marvel has made its move, and Warner Bros./DC is rushing like mad to retaliate (or something like that). The studio(s) aren’t expected to make any public announcements about their plans until Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters next month. In the meantime, we here at Screen Rant will be sure to continue keeping you up-to-date on all rumors and reports that offer a sneak peek at the DC strategy.

What do you think of the approach being taken by Warner Bros./DC so far? How much do you suspect the DC movies will integrate elements of the “New 52″ comics reboot? Sound off in the comments section.

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SuperheroComplex3 years ago

DC is not rushing it people they havent even given a release date for any of the projects so how can you consider it being rushed?

Also after the Dark Knight Rises is released next month the only other comic book adaptation ready to be released is Man of Steel! Shouldn’t WB start production on other franchises?? I mean C’mon the news these past couple of days have gotten me excited not worried

DC is not rushing it people they havent even given a release date for any of the projects so how can you consider it being rushed? Also after the Dark Knight Rises is released next month the only other comic book adaptation ready to be released is Man of Steel! Shouldn’t WB start production on other franchises?? I mean C’mon the news these past couple of days have gotten me excited not worried

I think, if the intention is to redo Batman after Nolan’s trilogy then that is dangerous. Simply for the fact that fans might be peeved at having to re-invest again in not only (potentially) a different actor playing the Bat but, potentially a different origin story to simply tie in with the Justice League movie.

If, and as this article points out, its a big if. If WB are so keen on doing a Justice League movie then they could they not quite easily tie in a Clark Kent cameo at the end of DKR? Or do it the other round and have Bale/Whoever is to play Batman turn up at the end to Man of Steel.

Bale is pretty much finished with the Bat and is moving on. Sure he left the door open a bit with a recent comment he might return if Nolan had a great idea but he will NOT be playing Batman in a JL movie (and personally I wouldn’t want him to). The “dark and gritty realism” of Nolan’s Batman would be crushed if all of the superheroes were thrown into his world.

No, the Batman we need is the one who knows about all the supers out there and has a plan for dealing with them ALL.

I know some may not agree, but DC is very late in the game with this. The hype is NOW! IMO they shouldn’t do a bunch of tie in movies like Marvel did… Why not just do the opposite? Just make a Justice League movie and then let it branch off into separate movies. To do a Justice League movie right there would need to be AT LEAST Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Martian Manhunter. That would take forever to tie into a group movie!!! JLA wouldn’t even come out until 2020… unless they produce 2 movies every summer for the next 3 years and then put out a JLA movie in 2015… But by then Marvel will already have an Avengers 2 and DC will just be playing catch-up for the next decade… DC, if you’re reading this, JUST DO A JLA MOVIE! Most of the world already knows the origins of your heroes, we don’t need more origin stories…

IF they do decide to re-boot Batman & Green Lantern from complete scratch PLEASE wait a few years (…a decade!) and launch different superheroes instead. Otherwise… I dunno. They’re in a sticky situation right now. That line from the beginning of the 21 Jump Street movie comes to mind.

Waiting a decade? Not gonna happen after The Avengers’ BO numbers! Now WB/DC want a piece of the action for themselves. And they are absolutely right about that.

The comic book movie genre in its current form was launched in 2001 by Spider-Man and had its first peak in 2008, when TDK landed a smashing success. Four years later, The Avengers have just topped that. But this is it…This hype will NOT be going on for yet another decade. Maybe a couple of years from now, maybe even less… If DC wants to be part of the game while it is on, they need to act quickly…

But I agree. Those “reboots” are a bad idea for they are wasting valuable time. Yeah, it’s very hard to imagine the current incarnation of Batman to co-exist with Superman and Reynold’s Green Lantern. But he does! He’s Batman, and Batman, despite all gritty realism, lives in this DC comicverse. And if Nolan and Bale don’t want to be part in it any more, just recast the guy, hire another director and don’t waste valuable time with yet another origin story…

Yes, they SHOULD be really rushing it! In five years from now, the hype might be over…They need the assemble Justice League by 2015 or they’re out of the game…

Wouldn’t surprise me if we get an omgwtf announcement at comic-con such as The Flash is up next after MOS. In a way they need to hurry not rush, GL was rushed and look what happened. They just need to organise a plan after that it becomes easy.

lol All I heard last year from critics and the industry was how comic book movies were dead, that they over saturated the market that they couldn’t make any more… just lol. Marvel movies do it right, and they will be around for a long time. They are not going away, because they are good movies, and good movies never go out of style.

You are so right They need to make a move now or the hype could be over in ten years.I think Chris Nolan should do Green Lantern and keep Ryan Reynolds as he played Hal well.Nolan has done a great job with superhero movies.lets keep the ball rolling!!

if batman is indeed rebooted then it would be smart to see a Superman/batman teamup movie right after man of steel, itd be a good way to introduce a new batman and give superman more exposure. NOLAN`s darker world will mix perfectly with other heroes as it will help make all the heroes feel real. As hes usually a dark realistic character in the comics and it doesnt destroy the characters around him. No one knows if dc is truly rushing but they intended on doubling their superhero movies after their Harry Potter franchise ended and they havent, so i assume theyre rushing to achiieve the goal theyve been failing at so far. Green lanterns failure hurt the WB bigg time. But i believe the franchise can be fixed if they are alot more careful with a sequel. I wouldnt be against a reboot, but im willing to give Reynolds another try. BATMAN/superman reboots, a green lantern reboot may be too much to soon, no matter how bad it was.

Confirmed CMBs that are being developed in the next few years with release dates: Man Of Steel, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, The Wolverine, Cap 2, [secret MS movie – possibly BP or Ant-Man], X-Men First Class 2.

And the ones that are in the early process of development: Batman reboot, Justice League, Avengers 2, Deadpool, Wonder Woman, Lobo, Green Lantern reboot, Fantastic Four reboot, Flash, Suicide Squad, Dr Strange, GotG, inhumans (and maybe a few more that slipped my mind)

As much as I love CBMs… this type of over-saturation could really be a bad thing for the genre

I’m sticking with my opinion: DC should leave the solo movies alone for now and just focus on bringing us the Justice League to the big screen (then afterwards they could maybe branch out into solo flicks). What they seem to be doing now, is following Marvel’s “formula” and planning solo movies that’ll lead into a JL movie – and that’s unnecessary IMO.

I don’t know if it’s a bad thing because all we are doing is expanding the SciFi sub-genre a bit. Better to have something new than for them to be pulling out old SciFi plots and remaking them (Conan the Barbarian, The Thing, Fright Night, Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, Planet of the Apes, etc)

For me personally I will be more tempted to go see them in the theater than a comedy, bad Sci-Fi movie (like Transformers), or something I can enjoy just as much at home on my TV.

I guess only time will tell if we get Superhero burn out or not.

I do agree regardless that DC should put a JL movie at the top of their priority list and not worry about WW, Flash, a GL reboot, etc. If a JL movie is successful on the front end, it will give all those characters positive exposure for later ventures.

There will be a Superhero movie burnout eventually, I assure you of that. It could have happened THIS Year – but the Avengers movie was so good, it stopped that from happening. The Dark Knight did the same thing, and so did the Iron Man movies (remember we were all feeling a bit burnt out from the bad Hulk movie, Daredevil movie, Spider-Man 3?) That’s what they are going to have to do from now on is to make excellent movies to prevent the “big” burnout.

There’s always a “bad movie” burnout, but they’ll turn out for a good one.

Marvel and DC need to watch it. I think the Avengers hype helped a lot of the Marvel movies. If they follow-up with five so-so movies, it could be bad. But they’ll turn out for a good movie. Avengers ultimately didn’t require anyone to have seen every movie, if the follow-ups become too “insider” friendly that might turn people off. There’s a balance.

Anyway, I also think that DC shouldn’t monkey around with solo movies. It’s too much of a gamble. Marvel was nervous last year with Thor and CA. Things could have turned out differently.

Someone mentioned LOTR. That would be huge if they just made a JL trilogy. Filmed it all at once, and really took their time introducing the world and characters similar to how Fellowship did. That would be a bold move. Solo movies seem like tentative baby steps.

Honestly, I don’t get the feeling DC has a clear plan, vision, or direction. If they don’t, I see a lot of stumbles. I’ve said it dozens of times before, Marvel HAD to do it the way they did it. It was a gamble and there were doubts along the way. They did a good job, but also had some luck. They also had the novelty effect. DC needs to generate some excitement and buzz. I don’t think following Marvel is the way to do it.

lol, sure DC has a clear plan……Make awesome-tastic superhero movies with the great franchises at their disposal!

The devil is in the details however and DC/WB just can’t seem to get the specifics right on anything other than Batman (they haven’t done a good Superman movie since Superman 2). Sad really because I would like to see a lot of DC’s characters done well along with a JL movie.

Yeah I’m sure the “let’s make movies that make a lot of money” plan isn’t all that new.

I like Superman Returns. I don’t love it. It could have used some more excitement, but far from the worst SH movie. But take GL. That seemed like a movie where WB didn’t know what to do. It seemed like they just took a character, hired a big name director and actors, loaded it with aliens so that they could sell toys. Was it a comedy? A drama? I don’t know. I don’t think Martin Campbell had any passion or understanding of the concept, and he’s the director. Did he grab the screenplay and make rewrites? Did he decide to cut things that weren’t working? Someone at WB hired him. Marvel at least puts some thought into who is doing what.

Well the biggest problem with GL imho was that they for some reason felt they had to keep Hal tied to earth. So they invented and re-imagined all the twisted “Parallax was a Guardian” silliness who come to earth to give GL a reason to be there (not to mention turning a seasoned and FEARLESS fighter pilot into an angst ridden defeatist so he had a reason to return home)

If they had JUST been willing to have Hal stay on Oa and out in space, it would have flowed much better and made more sense.

I’m pretty much of the opinion that the audience needs to have a story well-grounded before it can safely take off into uncharted territory. Therefore I would have kept him on Earth. I also would have had him alone trying to figure out the ring, maybe have sinestro come to earth. This approach would have laid the groundwork that would allow them to later expand the reality.

That said, he could have had an adventure on another planet or dimension, or a monster from another dimension released into earth.

…that liked Green Lantern better than Thor? I did not see why everyone loved Thor so much.

Anyway, the script of Green Lantern could have been worse. Some of the presentation – not CGI-wise, I actually like that suit, I just wish it had higher fedility – such as the dialogue, some acting -namely Lively’s not-real laugh that lasts too long, and ***pacing in places*** -especially that freaking bar scene- could have been improved, but other than that wasn’t that the script lacked decent content, it’s that the script needed MORE decent content.

Green Lantern comes somewhat close to being DC’s Iron Man. The whole movie, I couldn’t help but think that.

I actually like that Hal isn’t perfect. The *handling* of it is what bothered me a bit. “BECAUSE I’M AFRAID.” Well, no s***. I know Lively is being set-up to be Star Sapphire, hence the emphasis on her a little bit, but she came off too soft. I don’t know the original story of Parallax because I’m more of a Batman fan, but I think it worked. I don’t see anything wrong with tinkering a bit if it works. What I *WOULD* have liked it to actually *SEE* those planets being attacked by Parallax, but I suppose “budget” would be the first response. I like that Hal fails to save some people and you see their energy being devoured by Parallax. I like it when heroes fail to save some people, it feels more grounded; the job is not easy.

What else? Higher fidelity again — the Guardians. This should have been done with make-up and effects more than CGI, it would have looked more real, but whatever. Oa looked pretty empty, but then again, I suppose almost all of the Lanterns are in a meeting with Sinestro as we see later. I still thought that part was awesome, mostly because I wanted to fly planes or a jet when I was a kid, and was heart-broken when I found out glasses ruins that opp. for you, so that was a bit of a childhood dream fulfilled for me, I guess. I thought it was awesome how many different aliens there were, and how they went balls-out with it.

The more I think about how dumbed-down movies are, the more I think Green Lantern was dumbed down for audiences before it was finalized. “Wait, doesn’t the hero always get the girl?” Yeah, that seems in there explicitly for the audience. There are some trailer parts that don’t match up with the movie itself. I think either the writers felt people needed to be dumbed-down too, or they were instructed to do this. As much as this bothers me, I can see the necessity; a lot of people don’t bother paying attention when they go to movies. I love my friend, but explaining Watchmen to him gets a little bit old, especially since the story was adjusted to make more sense for a non-comic audience but still being Watchmen.

In short, even with a combination of minor problems and moderate problems, Green Lantern just needed a little more content and tighter-pacing in places. I doubt anyone coul prevent dumbing-down for dumb audiences.

Concerning Thor, the movie was just about picture-perfect as to what we wanted to see from these characters and it was extremely respectful to the source material. Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth, as well as Anthony Hopkins, were all inspired castings. I can’t say the same for Natalie Portman, but overall it was exactly what we wanted to see as fans. Now, was Thor a movie for everybody? No, I don’t think so. The sex appeal of the actors (and actresses) really helped that movie succeed as much as it did. There also could have been better character development AND more action scenes would have been appreciated. But it was a great start to what could potentially be a very great franchise, and definitely helped the Avengers movie as well by providing a very likeable Thor (AND Loki, funnily enough).

The Green Lantern movie just bored me. I didn’t like ANYBODY in that movie.

I wouldn’t say extremely respectful, more like fairly respectful. They changed Heimdall for no reason, turned the Biforst into a high tech wormhole generator and a host of other issues that I could mention but see no reason to pick at the scab any longer 😉

That said I do think Thor was much better that GL and the changes Thor made to their cinema-verse paled in comparison to some of the changes they made to GL to get it to work (or not work as it were)

Archaeon3 years ago

No, you are not the only one…I too very much enjoyed GL and found it a better film than “Thor”. In fact, since I thought only the first half of “Captain America: The First Avenger” was very well done, I actually found GL to be a better film OVERALL in that case as well. As you fairly point out, GL was not a perfect film, by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt it accomplished, effectively, its purpose of introducing Hal Jordan and the GL Corps to the cinematic universe.

Agreed Archaeon.I agree completely Ryan Reynolds was a great choice to play Hal.Strong was good as well.The storyline could have been better.The race track scene was dumb.These two actors played their parts the way they were supposed to according to the comic book.No actor in my opinion could have played Hal as well as Ryan Reynolds.I would love to see a GL2 with better writing and directing.Let Chris Nolan do it.

mongoose3 years ago

The point about Hal Jordan though is he is FEARLESS. So doing what they did in the movie changed his whole persona from the comics.

As for Parallax I could explain it but it’s fairly involved. Just google him and Sinestro and you will see how they screwed up the story in the movie.

And yes, they both dumbed down things and tried to do too much. If the goal was to have Sinestro turn at the end they should have focused on that but doing so would have pulled Hal out of the spotlight.

Another problem I had with GL was Hal. Of all the people on Earth, that’s who the ring picks? He was like the dumb jock, and the bad guy was the awkward nerd. I’m very familiar with the original comics, but for one thing the early GL had some tongue in check, and it was the early 60’s. This is one case where they should have altered the hero. Thor was also unworthy but it wasn’t as glaring.

Anyway, as I suspected, Thor was awesome in Avengers. I’m even hopeful about future movies. It’s not like this stuff can’t be done, it just didn’t work for me in that movie.

You weren’t the only one, but for me it was close. And considering that Green Lantern is my all-time favorite comic book hero, and I never found Thor comics all that interesting, that’s significant.

I had no problem with the casting or the CGI of Green Lantern, and I thought the origin of Parallax in the movie was much better than in the comics (though his name made even less sense; if you’ve never looked “parallax” up in the dictionary, do it now). The script could have been a lot better. But I think the editing was the real weak point. A talented editor could rearrange the scenes of the Green Lantern movie that we saw, and turn it into a much better film.

My goodness. The next thing I know people on these boards are going to say that Catwoman or Elektra were good movies or better than actual good movies like Thor.

Was Thor the best super hero film ever? No. But did it have fully realized characters, a compelling non-storm cloud villin, no plot holes the size of semi-trucks, and actual chemistry between the leads? Yes. These were all things Green Lantern lacked.

It isn’t often when I hear people boo a movie, but that was the exact reaction in my showing of GL, and I don’t understand how anyone can justify it. I am not a GL comics fan either, but if I were, I would have been even angrier at how badly they botched things, especially Sinestro.

The most stark contrast is the treatment of the villains in the two. SPOILERS – The final scene where he puts on the yellow ring had no rhyme or reason outside of “well, thats what happens in the comics.” Whereas they had Loki discover his heritage, the genocide of his people, and his contrast with Thor’s maturation – they literally had no reason for Sinestro to go bad. He is heroic all film and then non-sensically they stick him in yellow at the end. Sinestro could have been at least as complex as Loki, if not more so, and they simply refused to do it. They could have shown him becoming frustrated with the Guardians policies, discovering that the yellow energy possesses more brute strength than the green power, slowly doubting his place in the Corp as Jordan becomes more eminent. Instead, they pooped all over him and the GL movie all together.

Archaeon3 years ago

Evan…

You will simply have to accept the fact that there are people in the world who DID like GL. We have various reasons, and those reasons are just as legitimate as any you have for NOT liking the film.

Calling us crazy simply removes any true impact or legitimacy from your own argument.

The fact is that I (and AMIthe…etc.) DID find GL to be a more enjoyable film than “Thor”. Deal with it, and move on.

al3 years ago

What they need to do is bring in writers and directors that are passionate about the film. Vet them. Test them to see if they have the knowledge of the superhero(s) A lot of people in hollywood are after the paycheck and can care less about the final product. That’s why Joss got Avengers. He breathed it and lived it, and delivered a fun movie. Yeah…i knew it would be big, but never thought it would do the numbers it did.

Not only make excellent movies, but spread them out. Don’t clutter them all up in the summer. Yes, the winter season is also a good time to release movies. Some people do like getting out instead of being couped up in the house all winter long.

I think a Superman/Batman (with a soft reboot, i.e. different actor, director, but just leave it to the audience to “assume” that it’s the same continuity from Nolan’s. A few references or whatever.) movie after Man of Steel would be good. Then in the end have Wonder Woman come in by surprise. Like if the fight gets taken to Greece (Superman flies all over the place; Batman has hitched rides places), and suddenly Wonder Woman is fighting too, defending her territory. Same way Thor was handled in Avengers. Then you have 3 of htem right there.

Next movie: escalation, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have to collaborate more and more. Then Green Lantern comes in – no real introduction (we have Reynold’s one for that), but we see him in civilian form, noticing all the fights going on and he feels like it’s a fun challenge to come in and see if he can hold up. The other three aren’t amused, but GL being GL, he holds up and his personality “wins them over”, or at least is comically tolerable. Then create the Flash during that movie…by the 3rd one after Man of Steel, they should be all set for a fully-fledged Justice League movie.

So basically one continuity that sees them adding more heroes to each film, instead of a lot of individual films and put them all together at once.

A Superman/Batman movie would be great IMO – I think it would be the perfect way to kick off the reboot and then in the next film we see Batman and Superman having to recruit more superheroes to help with an unstoppable threat. In short, I think a Batman/Superman movie would serve as a great lead-in to what I wrote about on page one of this article….

exactly! though some ideas may need to be tweaked…but yeah! if WB wants to have something to catch up with the avengers, it’s the World’s Finest…they only need those two titans of DC to have a great movie…no need to wait for long because of the production of a lot of solo films…even not putting in easter egg endings introducing a new character or what…just make it straightforward, no cameo appearances from other superheroes…and when they’re done with that, they make a solo wonder woman film…if it’s successful, they put up the World’s Finest TRINITY…no “recruitment” in the plot necessary…just a circumstance that allowed them to work together…

in this manner, DC goes into a slightly different direction than Marvel; because we wouldn’t feel good if they follow the formula. would it also be nice that we sit in the cinema watching superman…found it good…the next year, a batman film (if they really are rebooting him), found it great…and then all of a sudden, in the next year, a trailer comes out for superman/batman….

After seeing this one comment on another site to which i agreed with, id have to say WB/DC should be seperated. If DC were to have their own studio & make films just as Marvel has, i think their films will be better & im not talkin about Batman & Superman but the rest of DC universe’s characters. I mean to date all WB got goin concering DC’s characters are Batman & Superman. Other films such as Supergirl,Steel,The Losers,Jonah Hex, & Green Lantern have performed poorly amongst most or all fans. Anyways after reading that person’s comment i thought that should be first order of business.

I’m for a JL movie but I am against simply having characters show up in the middle of a fight. That’s like telling the audience “anything goes.” Next they’ll be expecting the Hulk to show up. A little foreshadowing. Establish the boundaries and characters.

Someone was suggesting Martian Man-hunter as a Nick Fury type character, gathering the heroes. Batman might be even better. He’s got the money to travel and would be keeping track of these things. It would be good to have some kind of “center” that connects all of them. But they could also have each character have some knowledge of another instead of one “mastermind.”

DC just really missed out on this. IF they seriously think they can just make a bunch of solo movies and have a scene with Batman a la Nick Fury recruiting the heroes at the end of every movie… IT’S BEEN DONE!!! QUITE RECENTLY. JUST DO A JLA MOVIE NOW! While the hype is still fresh, then the JLA moves and the Avengers can start battling at the BO… how epic would it be if JLA and The Avengers 2 came out in the same summer??? Nerd-gasm…

Oh, I agree. And I like your attitude. It would totally look like they are copying Marvel if they do the end-of-credit thing, and then have Batman stepping out of the shadows. And the news so far looks bad to me, like they are indeed copying Marvel.

Copying could work if they do it really well, and their Universe has something different and maybe better. But I’ll say it again and again: It’s a gamble. Every solo movie has a good chance of tanking, and therefore derailing the momentum. Realistically it’s going to happen. Marvel movies have been mostly good, not great IMO. That’s because they were playing it safe. So what’s DC going to do? Make a bunch of good-not-great movies after announcing JL. Ehhh. But if they try to make great solo movies, those can also tank. Not all, but some. On top of that, your looking at years and years for this thing to get off the ground. I say they should just start seriously working on a JL trilogy. Announce it. Shoot it. Then release one every year. They could release the first one by ’15 or ’16 and have three JL movies out by ’17 or ’18. A huge JL trilogy. Where would Marvel be by then? DC and Marvel would be on pretty even ground at least.

If they announce a trilogy, to shoot all at once, that would get the worlds attention.

I think it is Ant-man, and the lobo movie got canned, GotG is happening and there is a justice league dark movie but not every movie in development will definitely get made, probably all avengers and justice league franchise movies, but less know superhero movies may not

Honestly, i have a feeling that no matter how this movie ends up turning out, ima prolly c it at least 3 times in theaters so f*** it. Do watchu want ive commented enough on my ideas. I jus want the dam thing to happen already !!!! X)

Actually, a Suicide Squad film might be just the ticket to get the wider DC Universe into theaters. There are colorful, unique, interesting characters with heavy moral ambiguity and fascinating abilities/powers working for Amanda Waller, government bureaucracy b______ and a woman who could make ANY incarnation of Nick Fury come to tears.

It would definitely distinguish DC’s foray into universe-building from Marvel’s and allow for various references to the heroes who had captured each member to be used (and perhaps even flashbacked or at least hinted at in some kind of stylized silhouette scene or animation similar to the “Tale of the Three Brothers” in HP7: Pt1).

Really, the possibilities to this type of approach could prove to be just the kick needed for a later JLA film…

i agree, i know nothing about suicide squad but the premise and characters sound like something we have never seen before.. its a good way to test a movie with a lot of character and it could work well for them.

…but that’s the great thing. Suicide Squad is nothing like the characters of “Wanted” (graphic novel OR film). They are completely different, both in terms of their team’s structure AND their way of operating on missions…and their motivations for both, as well. The members are criminals who have been captured (usually by various superheroes) and are now held by the highest echelons of the American government. The team is their only way to earn ANY chance of a lessened sentence or some sort of more favorable incarceration.

To keep them in line, Amanda Waller has special explosives placed in their heads or necks (other means of “collaring” have been used before) that she can trigger at any time. The team can consist, at any given time, of people such as Harley Quin, Deadshot, King Shark, Killer Croc, etc. Often, team members die, whether from failed escape attempts or failed missions. Also, the members attack each other as often as they work together. It’s actually quite unique in its team dynamics…

Using the Squad in a film could allow for a great inroad to the DC Universe, especially if the capturing heroes are appropriately referenced.

Actually i think your closer to the truth then anyone, the Suicide Squad with the present villans from the “new 52″ issues, would make a great lead in movie. None of the major heros would be in it but all would be mentioned several times, along with associated cohorts that they might have teamed up with in the past. But possibly, towards the end of the movie, one or two heroes but in their secret identities would be seen talking two each other about amanda wallaces team and hoping that “shes not biting off more than she can chew”. It could be a very intersting lead in after all. and it leads to all kinds of differnt things based on what could happen in the movie.

And also, the Suicide Squad is nothing like the Watchmen, as you said. For those not knowing, the Watchmen was made of of heroes not villans.

That being said, I’m happy they are rebooting Green Lantern and it reminds me of the Hulk reboot in some ways. But I think they need a Flash movie. They need a Shazam movie. They need to re-establish a character in movies just as Marvel did with Iron Man, especially with an actor everybody will like. Robert Downey Jr. made Marvel Studios what it is now – now DC needs to find somebody in that mold. And I don’t think it will be for the character of Green Lantern. I think it will be for somebody like the Flash.

I think they overreached in the first GL movie. Wouldn’t it have been enough to have a dying alien leave a ring to Hal Jordan? I always thought it should have had a little bit of a Greatest American Hero thing where he didn’t know how to use the ring at first. I’m not talking Jack Black as GL, but get some mileage out of it. Ultimately my biggest problem with the movie is that it introduced too much. I don’t even know if a vast GL corps should ever be in a movie.

Well Reynolds did have a small learning curve but the thing about the rings is, they impart knowledge about how to use them to their wearer. What you are asking for is someone using the powers with no understanding of how to make them work which is just not possible based on what we know about the rings.

DC should approach a bit differently then Marvel. Why not introduce new characters in a single tread film rather than a solo film for each of them. Man of Steel should be the starting point. No matter of Box office, they could introduce a new Batman & Wonder Woman in Men of Steel 2. A slight retile might help. Then add further character in part 3 and so on. By film # 5, they should have a full JLA roster.

Alot of people I know are mad, because they think DC is copying Marvel if they do a shared continuity thing leading to a Justice League movie. In my opinion, I really dont care. Sure, they are definately copying marvel in that sense. But wouldnt you love to see, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman all on one screen? Hell yes!. So, what I think they should do, is keep Man of Steel (maybe make 2), Reboot Green Lantern (maybe make 2), new actor new take new everything. Make A Wonder Woman, and A Flash, and a Aquaman. Then Release A justice League Movie and blow the pants off of everyone. But, thats just my opinion.

I agree with that. its a simple formula, stick to the basics. If you want the Justice League, then go about it the right away. So what if its the same path as marvel did it. It would have made sense, no matter what company wanted to do it. They already have a Green Lantern movie in place, and personally I didnt mind it. Could it have been done a little better and differently, absolutely, but the thing is, it was done and the ground work for the first appearence of a super hero,sans the Batman/Superman plots comeing out,in the DC universe has made an appearance. So Make another Green Lantern movie, a reboot/sequel, a little more darker, and bring in Sinestro as the bad guy from space heading to Earth. I know its a Loki thing, but having something like that to bring everyone together is whats needed. The justice League first got together to fight a menace from space, what else is there that would be so terrifying that it needed every major super hero to defend the planet. its wicked simple.

I would vote for a Green Lantern 2 movie with Reynolds as Hal Jordan again, as well as a Flash movie (with Barry Allen), and possibly then a team-up movie between the two. Not a GL reboot. The problems in the first movie are fixable in the second. The main problem was the blowhard critics bunching their undies like big poopie-pants knobheads. #1 has too much invested in it to redo now. Also too much established. And how about a team-up movie between Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson) and Hourman (Rex Tyler)? Now that would really be good! Seems like DC has alot of thinks on their wish-list plate that are not good enough heroes for a movie. I would eventually like to see a JLA flick, tho.

In as much as I love the Nolan Batman movies, I don’t think The Dark Knight Rises will be the DC movie to top the Avengers gross. It may top The Dark Knight’s though. I think The Man of Steel will be the top gun when it’s out. I mean, the brilliance of Nolan and Synder, with over a year to correct every error in the movie?? It would just be so good!

Imo, seems to me WB/DC are rushing things. Justice League having the tone as Nolan’s Batman trilogy? C’mon, I like Nolan’s Bat-films but i do not wish for ever DC hero to be an exact copy of his version of Batman. Sorry but it seem like WB/DC have their heads up Nolan’s butt for the warmth. I wouldn’t go the New 52 route with the DCMU. WB/DC could make more money with their New 52 idea films with solo franchises starting with Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot. Kinda like how Marvel will have it’s Cosmic universe & the other universe we’re seeing now.

You know this all great but the team movie I want to see is the Teen Titans. From the 80’s to the mid 90’s they outsold the JLA some months. Due to A sexy hot alien princess who doubled as A swimsuit and underwear model wene she wasn’t fighting bad guys.

Why don’t they just make a JSA movie with doctor fate, Sandman, Green Lantern, Black canary, Hourman, Captain marvel and wildcat. Most of these characters are realistic and almost no one remembers their stories from like the 1940s. These heroes were awesome and what basically got DC started. I mean start off with the JSA and then do separate movies or during the JSA movie start showing flashbacks and stuff. Honestly I think the JSA is just what Warner brothers needs.

You shot down your own reasoning with, “almost no one remembers their stories from like the 1940s”. That also means almost no one knows who the characters are either.

You need and want name recognition so having a Justice anything movie withOUT members like Flash, Wonder Woman and especially Batman and Superman is a recipe for failure even before it begins. The whole idea is that people want to see their superheroes on the big screen, not their Grandparents superheroes). What you are suggesting would turn out like another Watchmen and DC/WB needs a blockbuster and not a movie that will just make back it’s budget (after marketing costs are factored in).

This might work AFTER a JL movie kind of like how XMFC worked but not as the first group movie attempt.

THE GREEN LANTERN I cant wait for the JLA to get started Im looking forward to seeing what comes about. The one thing that is of interest to me is what are they going to do about GL. will they part re-booth or start from scratch. God its a hard to call what to do there. If they do an actor replacement how about James Marsden (aka Cyclops Xmen). He has the acting chops, he could make this his own I think this could work.He has experience working with a team and super heroes i think he would ideal.

THE FLASH As for the Flash how about Taylor Lautner he is the only name that seems to come up when i was doing a bit of research, I dont know why,, I know Bradley Coopers name has been tied to the Flash and was also to Superman man of steal to play Lex Luthor.Another Shawn Ashmore (ice man men) or Aaron Stanford (pyro xmen)

BATMAN AND SUPERMAN As for Batman well Christian does it great batman i would love to see him share the screen with Henry Cavil, I think they could really do this Justice (i know without the pun).

WONDER WOMAN Now all there is left Is wonder woman, well I think possibly someone like Angela Bassett, Kate Beckensale, Mishelle Rodrigueze,Connie Nielsen(gladiator) Charlize Theron, liv Tyler, cate Blanchett, Vanessa Williams, Thandi Newton, are a few names that come to mind. When ever, how ever, where it happens the story has got to be real good,, the story has to stand, the scripts, the actors have to fit properly, the chemistry, the feel it all has to come and fill up the whole screen and leave us going wow, this is is good there is more than just good guys and bad guys fighting here, there is a deeper depth going on that ties each hero together. So Dc/WB bring it on and do the biz on this one.

I forgot to examine who would be the bad guys,,

LEX LUTHAR AND BRAINIAC Lex Luther, Brainiac, who would play them well for Lex or Brainiac how about Vin diesel,Michael Clarke, Michael Fasbender, Eric Banna, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams, Bruce Willis, Jamie Foxx,

ALL THE BEST TO YOU ALL FROM IRELAND TO ALL THE BIG SUPERHERO FANS OUT THERE,, AND PS IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO IRELAND TRY AND MAKE A TRIP TO IT, YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME, YOU WILL HAVE PLENTY OF LAUGHTER AND WIT, AND MAGIC LOCATIONS THAT IS CONNECTED WITH HOLLYWOOD. ALL THE BEST GOD BLESS AND TAKE CARE

Green lantern – You obviously don’t know the DC universe that well because if you did you would know that if they didn’t reuse Hal Jordan (Reynolds), it would then default to John Stewart (a black guy) or possibly Guy Gardner (who doesn’t match Marsden at ALL).

Flash – Research turns up Twilight’s werewolf boy? Where have you been looking because I have never seen him as a suggestion for playing the Flash. He is probably the last person I would think of for the role. Barry Allen needs to be tall and thin with a witty, wisecracking personality. None of that describes Lautner.

Batman – Bale has already officially hung up his cape. Yes he said recently he might reconsider IF Nolan had a great idea for a #4 but Nolan isn’t directing and a JL movie is not just a Batman movie. So Bale is pretty much out.

Superman – no comment until we actually see him in MoS. I’m personally not optimistic however when I read things like turning him into a prince sent specifically to earth to be mankind’s savior.

Wonder Woman – None of your listed actresses have the acting ability, matching look AND physical ability. They can’t be a waif like model (like Adrianne Palicki was), be fairly tall, not too old (late 20’s to early 30’s) need to be in excellent physical shape with muscle tone, can do extensive physical work and of course act. All of your listed female have some of the qualities but not all of them. WW needs to be an imposing physical presence on screen so she doesn’t look silly in relation to the other muscle bound members of the group.

I also hate to bring this up but Wonder Woman and her race were also Caucasian so using a black woman would be too radical a change. That is close to making Superman a black guy.

Totally agree with you. I am african american, and I would not want to see Angella Basette ( Awesome actress…should have been Storm instead of the aweful Halle berry)play wonder woman. She can play another amazon though. In Man of Steel…No…should have kept Perry White Caucasian ! People see where I’m going with this? Respect the source material Damnit !!!

Totally agree, I don’t want to see a shared DC universe leading into a JL movie, it just doesn’t matter, make a Justice League and make the other movies stand on their own or with slight to no reference or whatever…just make some good movies.

There needs to be better continuity between individual DC superhero movies and the JL movie than there was with the Marvel superheros. I say reboot GL and BM so they work in the JL universe. Hopefully this has already been done with SM. Nolan at the helm of all these would be great!

The nice thing about a Batman reboot is that you don’t have to do an origin story. You simply introduce the new actor playing Batman/Bruce Wayne. Same for Superman (though I think MOS is establishing a new universe?). The others you don’t really have to do a solo movie but use the 1st JL movie as an introduction of the lesser known characters.

Whoever suggested that Batman become the next Bond, I think that is a great idea.

Also, is anyone else a little annoyed that they want Nolan involved in ever DC picture? I like Nolan’s movies and I like his DK take but I’d prefer Bruce Timm or Geoff Johns involved creatively. Maybe Grant Morrison too.

I agree about no origin story with the next Batman reboto. Only that kinda dissapointed me in Batman Begins was Wayne’s parent’s murder was done in flashback scene as in Burton’s films. I mean have his parents murdered then fast-forward towards the year where decides to travel the globe to train for destiny. But still worked well. I hope MOS be it’s own thing itself aswell.

Im one person who’s annoyed that people think Nolan should be involved in every DC film. What he did was great for his own version of Batman, but imo he’s not the guy for every single other hero. Superman is the flipside of Batman & well goes further from what Nolan would like to do (Realistically) with every other hero. I prefer Bruce Timm & Co. since they’ve done a great job with multiple characters while keeping continuenity with great stories.

1) There is no way a Suicide Squad movie will ever get made. First the only way to conceivably do it would be with an R rating. Second, they basically had their shot with the Supermax movie and passed.

2) What to do with that wretched Green Lantern film. It ranks with X-Men 3, Elektra and Catwoman as one of the worst all-time super hero films. But, to reboot it would probably cause them to re-visit origin-type mythos which will always burden any script. I do agree that an Incredible Hulk style move is the best way to go, but perhaps go with Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, or John Stewart.

3) I wonder if JLA would be exciting enough to get Nolan back in the director’s chair?

I don’t think they’d need to revisit the origin of GL because the first movie did a good job introducing the character, even it wasn’t a great movie the origin was set well and they can build from that foundation.

Personally, I’d like to see a sequel with a new Hal and John introduced to help defeat Sinestro and then have it end with Hal infected by Parallax which could set up the JL movie of Earth’s heroes joining to fight Parallax (Or Darksied) and then introduce Guy and Kyle in the JL and then possibly do a spin off and us the Hal Jordan Rebirth storyline.

I also hope that they get a different director than Nolan. This more unrealistic characters do not seem to fit his persona and directing style though he’s done well with non-realistic stories before (Prestige and Inception).

As you said, Nolan has shown he can do straight up fantasy. The reason to try and drive Nolan into the seat is that, like Whedon, he has shown a seminal understanding of comics and of course, of DC’s most popular character. Its similar to how Whedon also understands comics and the Marvel characters. I think Nolan is a smart enough director to not apply the TDK style to JL if he directed it.

Anyways, it is curious who would be the JLA villain. I have to assume that Thanos dominating the next wave of Marvel films will probably preclude DC from going with him. That’s why I would like to see a physical force like Doomsday paired with a compelling but not necessarily A-list villain (like Ares from Wonder Woman or the other aliens who hate Manhunter).

They definitely need a big physical force to take on. Doomsday would be a nice one especially if paired with someone who is less physical. Maybe Lex Luthor (which I know a lot of folks are tired of him). Ares would be a nice tie in the Wonder Woman story, much like the Thor’s was tied into the Avengers. I’m just not sure though if Doomsday would be big enough to form a JL. Maybe LL infused with Brainiac coupled with Doomsday and Ares.